Adding interest to bass parts

[SteveXFR]

I've been sent some tracks by a new band, I'm writing bass parts for them and it's quite different to my previous, riff heavy, Sabbath influenced bands. I know what Im doing with that style and it just comes to me with a couple listens through a track.

With this music, It seems I'm following the chord root quite a lot and I'm wanting to add some interest but it's not going well. The odd octave and fifth is going in here and there and some rhythmic variations but everything else I try just seems to sound worse than following the chord roots.

The music is metal, but a very different style to my usual. It's post hardcore, borderline metalcore with rhythm and lead guitars (heavily overdriven) plus synth, drums and vocals. 

Can anyone give me some tips?

Here's an example of something similar 

 

 

And a bit of this

 

 

Edited June 2 by SteveXFR

[Leonard Smalls]

Difficult to say without hearing what's on offer...

But I find runs and widdles involving diminished second and diminished fifth work well in many situations ( see Phrygian and Locrian modes).

And octaves work in everything from disco to punk, perhaps with fifth to make a chord. Talking of which, a chord higher up  with root, major third and diminished seventh works well in many situations as a sort of jagged punctuation...

Also recommend the Jonas Hellborg chord book - I found I couldn't reach half of them but the notes contained in 'em inspired lots of bass lines.

[Mrbigstuff]

Not familiar with that style of music at all, but chromatics add a lot of movement to a bass part without necessarily impacting the harmony too much.

[SteveXFR]

19 minutes ago, Mrbigstuff said:

Not familiar with that style of music at all, but chromatics add a lot of movement to a bass part without necessarily impacting the harmony too much.

 

Good point. Chromatic passing notes usually fit well. 

[SteveXFR]

23 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

Difficult to say without hearing what's on offer...

But I find runs and widdles involving diminished second and diminished fifth work well in many situations ( see Phrygian and Locrian modes).

And octaves work in everything from disco to punk, perhaps with fifth to make a chord. Talking of which, a chord higher up  with root, major third and diminished seventh works well in many situations as a sort of jagged punctuation...

Also recommend the Jonas Hellborg chord book - I found I couldn't reach half of them but the notes contained in 'em inspired lots of bass lines.

 

Thanks, that's all useful. I'll look up that chord book.

If the chord is minor, does that mean the diminished second is a semitone above the root?

 

[miles'tone]

A method I find useful is to listen to the tracks without a bass in hand and once familiar to what's going on in the tune, "sing" or scat along a bass part. It's more freeing, intuitive and rarely wrong. When you feel like you're finding you're way, record yourself doing this along with the track, then learn what you've sung. If you can sing it you can play it.

 

[Leonard Smalls]

56 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

If the chord is minor, does that mean the diminished second is a semitone above the root?

Whether it's major (Ionian mode) or minor (Aeolian) it's a semitone above the root.

There's a couple of modes where the second note is a semitone above root - the Phrygian (altered version sounds very gypsy or even flamenco) and Locrian (more rarely used, though it is in Bjork's "Army of Me") - and I found adding those notes (and those from altered versions of those modes) can help with texture and interest, same as the Hellborg book. I never found the other modes to be quite as exciting though ymmv!

I found this helpful:

https://themusicambition.com/phrygian-mode/